But What if they Don’t ‘Like’ Me?

One of the biggest issues I see a lot of people get so hung up on in social media are the numbers…the number of Facebook friends, Facebook ‘likes’, Twitter followers, etc.

Of course, we want to grow our readership and develop a strong following online. After all, we are in business.

However, there’s one thing you need to know.

You don’t have to have a gazillion Facebook ‘likes’ or a huge subscriber base in order to be successful.

Start thinking quality instead of quantity.

Listen to What Your Mom Said

When you were little, you probably heard your mom say, “It’s not how many friends you have, it’s the quality of your friends.” Growing up, like many people though, I had a hard time with that because let’s face it, we all want to be liked.

The number of Facebook ‘likes’ does not determine the success of your business.

Relationships First, Business Second

Before Facebook, social media, or any of the online networking tools we have now, a strong, long-lasting business offline was built on relationships first.

That principle hasn’t changed, especially in our industry and especially online. Relationships always come first, period. Facebook has a limit of 5,000 friends on your personal timeline. THAT is a lot of people! Can you really built solid relationships with 5,000 people?

Most likely, no. But, what about a business page?

It’s no different. Relationships first, business second, which leads me to my next point.

You Don’t Need a Huge List or “Likes” to Be Successful

Here’s what I mean. YL WebStudio just launched on July 31st. In the big picture of things, we’re still in our infancy. As of this writing, we have a newsletter list of about 115 subscribers, 158 Facebook ‘likes’, 148 Twitter followers, and 42 Pinterest followers.

That may not seem like a lot and if we were 5 years down the road, I’d be more concerned about those numbers. But, we’re still brand new and here’s the most important thing to remember:

According to MailChimp, the industry average open rate for email campaigns is 13.9%

The YL WebStudio open rate averages 44% since we started and single email campaigns average between a 40% and 60% open rate (according to our MailChimp stats).

I’ll take that any day over an unresponsive subscriber base!

What About Facebook? What if They Don’t ‘Like’ the Page?

So what? Who cares? We’re not interested in convincing people they need to join our company or buy our products and services. If you have to convince somebody once, you have to convince them over and over again. Total waste of time.

Wouldn’t you rather have 500 people genuinely interested in what you offer…500 people who you can build a solid relationship with and who will eventually refer people they know to you? Wouldn’t you rather have that than 5,000 people who could care less?

Exactly…

And Our Results so Far?

Our results on building solid relationships first speak for themselves. In just 2 1/2 months since YL WebStudio opened its doors, we have members in 3 countries…the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Members are now referring their team members and some are joining from Facebook…people I did not personally know before.

That’s the kind of business you want and it only comes from building that solid foundation in relationships first. So, yes, keep track of your numbers, but p-l-e-a-s-e don’t get so hung up on having to have huge Facebook ‘likes’ in order to be successful.

Those pages that tout the big numbers on their wall? Unless, they’re a major corporation… that’s just chest-beating and honestly, who cares?

Best,

P.S. I’d love to know your thoughts, so please leave a comment below: